1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a modesty panel to be attached to a joint portion of upper and lower external wall panels on a building external wall mainly for an ornamental purpose, and also relates to an external wall construction structure using the modesty panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following description sets forth the inventor's knowledge of related art and problems therein and should not be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art.
Generally, an elongated panel to be horizontally attached is called a modesty panel. In an external wall construction structure in which external wall panels are attached to an external wall surface of a building side, a modesty panel is attached so as to extend in a horizontal direction at a portion where the external wall design changes, such as, e.g., a portion between a first floor portion and a second floor portion. Furthermore, in some cases, a modesty panel is attached to cover a joint portion between a lower end of an upper external wall panel and an upper end of a lower external wall panel formed when the external wall panels are attached.
FIG. 15 shows an example of a construction structure covering a joint portion of upper and lower external wall panels with a decorative modesty panel. In this example, a water draining member 8 is fixed between end portions of upper and lower external wall panels 6a and 6b, and a base member 100 made of metallic material is fixed to the water draining member 8. Utilizing upper and lower elastic engaging portions 101 and 102 formed to the fixed base member 100, a fiber reinforced cement siding type modesty panel main body 110 equipped with a downwardly protruded ridge 111 formed along the upper edge of the rear surface and a U-shaped groove 112 formed along the lower edge of the rear surface is attached. In this construction structure, the attaching of the modesty panel main body 110 can be performed easily and with no nail head, etc., and would not be exposed to the surface of the modesty panel main body 110, resulting in preferable appearance (see Japanese Unexamined Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-89008).
Fiber reinforced cement siding type modesty panels give a feeling of dignity, which is preferable. However, the workability is not so good due to its heavy weight, and it is required to perform decorative coating on the surface of the modesty panel. Under the circumstances, a modesty panel using resin material or metallic material is also proposed (see Japanese Unexamined Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-271485 and Japanese Unexamined Laid-open Patent Publication No. H10-96319). The modesty panel of this type is light in weight as compared with a fiber reinforced cement siding type modesty panel, and therefore the workability can be improved.
FIGS. 16 and 17 show a modesty panel disclosed by the aforementioned Japanese Unexamined Laid-open Patent Publication No. H10-96319. This modesty panel includes a base member 120 and a modesty panel main body 130. As shown in FIG. 17, the base member 120 has a flat portion 121 served as a fixing surface to an external wall surface 2, and upper and lower engaging stepped portions 123 and 124 are formed in parallel with each other at the upper and lower edges of the flat portion 121, respectively. The modesty panel main body 130 has a surface portion 131 and upper and lower engaging ridges 132 and 133 formed at the upper and lower edges of the modesty panel main body 130 to be outwardly engaged with the upper and lower engaging stepped portions 123 and 124, respectively.
At the time of the construction work, the base member 120 is fixed to the external wall surface 2 with nails 3 at intervals corresponding to the length of the modesty panel main body 130, and the upper and lower engaging ridges 132 and 133 of the modesty panel main body 130 are outwardly engaged with the upper and lower engaging stepped portions 123 and 124 of the fixed base member 120, respectively. As a result, as shown in FIG. 17, the base member 120 and the modesty panel main body 130 are integrally joined.
The modesty panel 130, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, is an integrally molded resin article light in weight and excellent in workability. The manufacturing thereof can be performed easily and an excellent surface design can also be secured without coating with paint. However, since the fixing surface of the base member 120 to the external wall surface 2 is formed into a large flat surface 121, it is not easy to fix the base member 120 to the external wall surface 2 if there exists unevenness on the external wall surface 2 of a building side and/or a water draining member 8 is mounted between the upper and lower external wall panels 6a and 6b as shown in FIG. 15. Furthermore, the fixing of the modesty panel main body 130 to the base member 120 is performed only by the outward-engagement of the upper and lower engaging stepped portions 123 and 124 of the base member 120 and the upper and lower engaging ridges 132 and 133 of the modesty panel main body 130, which may sometimes cause unstable engagement.
The description herein of advantages and disadvantages of various features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed in other publications is in no way intended to limit the present invention. For example, certain features of the preferred embodiments of the invention may be capable of overcoming certain disadvantages and/or providing certain advantages, such as, e.g., disadvantages and/or advantages discussed herein, while retaining some or all of the features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed therein.